Exalted Rose
by fafnir9
Summary: An ancient evil. A forgotten power. When Remnant is threatened, a new generation has to rise to the challenge. Will they succeed or will they fall? Only time will tell.
1. Chapter 1

chapter one a new start

Three weeks. That's how long they had been in Haven. That is when team RNJR got their first mission. It was supposed to be simple: Exterminate the grimm infesting some nearby ruins. They hadn't counted on Ruby having a familiarity with the ruins that unnerved even her.  
"I'm telling you, there's something important down this way!" She said to the rest of her current traveling companions.  
"I believe you Ruby, but that is also were almost all of the grimm here are as well." Jaune said. Before Ruby could try to argue her point, Jaune spoke again saying, "How about this, we hunt the ones that aren't in this passage to draw out the ones that are until we can get through safely. Okay?" Ruby considered for a moment before saying,  
"And then we can follow this weird sense of deja' vu I've been having ever since we got here?""Yes.". As they began their hunt, they saw that Jaune's plan was working.

"Jaune your plan is working a little too well!" Nora cried while bashing two beowolf alphas into an ursa major.  
"These grimm are more powerful than what we normally fight." Ren stated as he mowed down six creeps.  
"Hang on guys! The're almost gone!" Ruby shouted while swinging crescent rose in swift but wide and devastating arcs. A few minutes later, she was proved right as the last grimm, a king taijitu, fell and disintegrated.

"How did you know how many there were Ruby?" Jaune asked.  
"The same way I seem to know exactly were we're going. I've never been here before, but I seem to know this place like the back of my hand. And that is really freaking me out right now...". Silence fell among the small group as they made their way back to the hallway, which as predicted, had several more...  
"Those are most certainly not grimm." Jaune said.

As soon as he was finished speaking, the human like creatures let out several inhuman growls that were somehow more unnerving than even the nuckelavee grimm they had killed not that long before. Before they could react the creatures were charging them. These creatures were terrifying, more than the grimm, because unlike the grimm, they were wielding large broad-axes. The first one's attack connected with Jaune's shield. The impact nearly knocked him off his feet. Ren reacting before the others, unloaded stormflower into the creature. Weakened by the barrage and now angry it turned to attack this presence, only to have Jaune run it through with Crocea mors. It faded into nothingness like the grimm, but before Jaune and Ren could process this new information, they heard several cries as more of the creatures rushed Nora and Ruby. This would have been a problem without Ruby's familiarity with everything in these ruins. She and nora made short work of the one that rushed them, and now, Jaune asked what they were all wondering,"What were those things?". They all looked at Ruby who had a puzzled look on her face.

"The're called...risen. I do not know how I know that, so please don't ask." she said. With that said, They advanced with a great deal more caution than before. When they reached the end of the hallway, it opened up into a fairly large room. In the center of the room there was a raised dais, and on this dais, were seven sets of unusual combat gear. The one in the center was different, it included a sword.  
"Ruby, what is all this?" Nora asked. Upon hearing no response, they looked around and spotted her approaching the sword.  
"Ruby NO!" Three voices shouted in unison, in the instant before she there was a blinding light, and all of them began to see visions of the four of them looked around, none of them quite as bewildered as Ruby, who also looked like she was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. After a quick look confirmed they were all there, Nora spoke asking the question that was on all of their minds.

"Where are we?".  
"Ask Ruby, she seems to know everything about those ruins we were in." Jaune said groggily. They all looked at Ruby, and she said,  
"I have no idea. I don't even know how I know about those ruins!". Just then, they heard voices. Whoever the voices belonged to, they seemed to be discussing the location of...a temple?  
"Are you sure the best place is here?"

"Yes. I've been able to confirm that the next true Exalt will pass by here at some point in the future. Has the testing rooms been completed Chrom?"  
"Yes it has. The emblem is hidden within already. And before you ask, the gems have been seperated again.". Time suddenly seemed to accelerate, and the group of four watched as the temple was raised, then deteriorated over what must have been several thousand years. Becoming the ruins they had just cleared of grimm. The vision faded, and with a series groans they started to pick themselves up off the stone floor.  
"Well, that explained... absolutely nothing." Ren said.

"Well...we know where it came from. That's a start right?" Ruby asked meekly.  
"Let's just grab this gear and get out of here." Jaune said. They all agreed and began picking up the gear that seemed to correspond to their specific color schemes. The sword was laying on top of the gear that seemed to have been made for Ruby. As she lifted it in her left hand, she suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her right eye and her free hand flew up to it with a cry of pain.  
"Ruby!" three concerned voices all but shouted.

"I'm fine now..." she said. The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. As she lowered her hand from her face all three of her current companions stared.  
"...What? Is there something wrong?" she asked, a hint of panic creeping in to her voice. "Ruby...was that mark in your right eye there yesterday?" Ren asked.  
"What mark?" a voice that was familiar to them asked.  
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby said clearly happy that he was there, and could probably answer their questions. "That mark...I'll answer the questions I can somewhere else. Come on.".


	2. Chapter 2

chapter two unanswered questions

"So...you have no idea what this mark is. Do you know anyone who might?" Jaune asked. The four young hunters were in their new combat gear after Qrow had told them that it was a good idea. Each set was similar to their previous gear, with the exception of Ruby's. Her gear now had royal blue and gold along with her normal red and black. As soon as she had fastened her hood to it her hood had changed slightly as well. It also included a red-gold papillon style mask that Qrow had told her to wear to hide the glowing mark in her right eye.  
"I wish I did. Not even Ozpin could figure those ruins out. All he knew about them was that they seem to predate the discovery of dust.".  
"Well would that explain that weird vision we all had?" Nora asked.  
"I doubt it. You said it showed the temple being built and then deteriorating right?" Qrow asked. "Yeah. But this "exalt" buisness is what's been bothering me the most." Ruby replied.  
"I honestly have no idea whatsoever what "exalt" means." Qrow said. "But, I know where we can start looking. Haven's lore library is extensive, and probably has at least something on whatever's going on with you. But first, let's see what you can do with that sword you found.". So he dragged the four out of the city and told Ruby to draw her new weapon.  
"Her stance is perfect, she drew it flawlessly and she seems to have a natural talent with that sword." Qrow mused, as he watched his niece go through her paces. Although Ruby had never admitted it to anyone, even crescent rose felt like it didn't truly belong in her hands. The fact that it seemed to be an extension of herself was a testament to years of hard work, not natural ability. This sword she was practicing with however was a different story. It's almost like I was born to wield this sword. She thought. The other three of the group were watching open mouthed as Ruby launched herself into sword techniqes that should have taken decades to learn, let alone master. Then, they heard the first scream. Ruby was the first to spring into action, rushing headlong torwards the disturbance, only to find more of these "risen" approaching a young faunus girl who couldn't have been more than four years old. The bodies of what must have been her parents lay nearby, and Ruby felt a boiling rage. Disregarding the fact she had just begun to practice with her new sword, she threw herself at the risen. In only a matter of seconds she had killed five of the creatures and only two remained. By then, the other four had caught up to her and were able to dispatch the remaining risen with no more trouble. JNR and Qrow were all quiet as Ruby approached the little girl, who promptly surprised her by throwing her arms around her neck and refusing to let go.  
"Let's get her somewhere safe." Qrow said. Since she had refused to let go of Ruby, it was decided that Ruby would be the one carrying her.  
"Can you tell me your name?" Ruby asked the little girl gently.  
"Iris." she stuttered out.  
"That's a pretty name." Ruby said to her. The other members of the group were glancing at them repeatedly, surprised by the interaction. It wasn't long before Iris fell asleep still clinging to Ruby. Once in the building they'd been staying in for the three weeks, they attempted to dislodge Iris from Ruby without waking her up. After several failed attempts, they gave up and Ruby decided she was going to sleep in the one armchair in the vicinity. The next morning, it became clear that Iris was not going to go anywhere without Ruby. They tried to separate them for breakfast and Iris began to have a panic attack. It only halted when Ruby picked her up again. This is going to be difficult. she thought. On the way back, they had discussed the best options for the now orphaned little girl. They had agreed the best thing for her would be to find a faunus family willing to take her in. The possibility of having to keep her had not been discussed, but now it looked like they didn't have much of a choice. After breakfast Iris fell asleep snuggled into Ruby's side.  
"That has got to be one of the most adorable things I have ever seen." Nora said with uncharacteristic softness. The rest of the group began discussing what to do with Iris' newfound and growing attachment to Ruby.


	3. Chapter 3

chapter three a new family

It had been a week since Ruby rescued Iris, and they were still inseparable. Which was going to be a bit of a problem, since they were supposed to be meeting professor Lionheart today.

"Iris, I'm not going to be gone for more than an hour, and we don't know how he's going to react if you're with us." Ruby said. Iris didn't respond, instead tightning her grip on Ruby's leg.

"Looks like we don't have much of a choice squirt. She's gonna have to come with us." Qrow said. With that decided, they began the rather short trip to haven academy with Iris still clinging to Ruby's leg. That got it's fair share of staring, because it wasn't everyday that you saw a little girl clinging to a teenager's leg as though their life depended on it. Neptune was the first to comment on it saying, "Um, why do you have a litle girl clinging to your leg miss?".  
"Is it really that hard to recognize me now?". There was a beat of silence, and then...  
"RUBY!?".

"Yes, it's me Neptune. Wait a minute... Where's Sun?".  
"He went after Blake. Back to my original question. Why do you have a little girl clinging to your leg?".  
"Well... she lost her biological family last week." Ruby said quietly enough that Iris couldn't hear her.  
"That's... awful.". As they continued, Iris drew more than a few condescending looks. Looks that were almost immediately averted at Ruby's glare, which was actually quite terrifying.

"Nice death glare Ruby!" Nora spouted cheerfully.  
"I think it's the mask..." Jaune said.  
"Who cares!? It's effective!" Nora retorted. She wasn't wrong. The mask alone seemed to possess quite the intimidation factor. Even the few lowlifes and thugs that were around refused to go anywhere near them.  
"I...suppose that's a good thing. At any rate, we're going to be late if we don't hurry." Ruby replied. As they approached Lionhearts office, a sense of dread began to overpower Ruby.

"Guys, there's something wrong here." she whispered.  
"Considering the last time you had that feeling Beacon fell, I think it would be wise to listen to your instincts." Jaune said. With that in mind they were a great deal more cautious than they had been. That caution paid off, as they were ambushed the moment they set foot in lionheart's office. The fact that they had been prepared for something to go sideways, along with Ruby's newfound skill with a sword, overwhelmed their attackers.  
"Retreat!" a voice cried only to be silenced moments later after being shield bashed by Jaune. Ruby, on the other hand was spinning every which way lashing out with her sword and laying almost all of their opposition low. That included the double crossing professor who had unwisely launched himself at Ruby as soon as an opportunity presented itself. In that moment her mask had slipped somewhat, and he managed to land a glancing blow on her face. That was the last thing he saw before blackness overcame his vision. Ruby had felt the attack go through her aura. It had somehow missed both of her eyes. But she thought it was also quite probable that she would end up with a large scar across her face. As the short lived battle ended, she checked on Iris who was obviously terrified. Her dusty beige cat ears laying flat on her head, the first thing she did was fling her arms around Ruby's neck with a frightened cry of,  
"Mommy!". Time seemed to stop for everyone in the room as they all tried to process the fact that a four year old faunus girl had called the sixteen year old Ruby mommy. There was a moment of silence before Ruby threw the rest of the group for a loop by saying,"Okay. Let's get you out of here.".

"We're going straight to the infirmary to get that cut of yours looked at squirt." Qrow said firmly, seemingly recovered from Ruby's acceptance of the parental title.


	4. Chapter 4

chapter four the reunion

It had been a week since Lionheart's failed attack on the group, and all of mistral was now aware of Lionheart's betrayal. It was plastered all over their news outlets, but that was being ignored by the trio that was currently traveling through the city. The trio paused outside of a weapon shop.

"Think she's in this one Weiss?" Yang asked. It had been three days since the WBY of team RWBY had met in the city, and Yang still refused to speak to Blake.  
"You've asked that at every weapon shop we've seen, and again I will tell you that it is far more likely that she is at the academy." was the reply. It was then they heard the voice of a small child saying

"Can we get this for mommy? Please uncle Jaune!". They hadn't been paying much attention to the child until they heard that.  
"JAUNE!?" three voices said in disbelief. Jaune glanced at them and made a subtle hand gesture to tell them to wait for a moment.  
"Yes, Iris we can get that. But that's all okay?" his answer was a cheerful

"Okay!". He made another gesture for them to follow him. As that was the only lead they currently had, they did just that. Much to their surprise, and disbelief, he led them to a small estate. He opened the front door and called  
"We're back!". Ever since the battle, Ruby had her hood up almost constantly. Which is as she walked into the room, the rest of her team did not see her scar at first. By then Iris had noticed them and was hiding behind Ruby. As Ruby did not seem to panicking, Iris looked up at her and said  
"Mommy do you know these ladies?". Silence. And then,  
"MOMMY!?" from three voices at the same time. Again there was a moment of silence, as Iris latched on to Ruby's leg clearly scared by the shouting.

"First, if you have to yell, do it outside. Second, yes for all intents and purposes, Iris is my daughter. Third, if you have a problem with that it is going to wait until tonight. Understand?" Ruby said. Her three teammates stared, gobsmacked at both what had been said, and the way in which it had been said. Ruby was speaking as a parent rather than a sister, teammate or friend. After getting a few mute nods from her team, she turned and lifted Iris with no apparent effort and began to comfort the little girl, her mind drifting back to four days ago when she had been approached by the mistralian council. They had approached her to do two things, offer a fair recompense for the injury she had recieved, and a reward for helping prepare them for the next attack and preventing the fall of Haven. The reward was the estate she was currently in along with something she had personally requested: legally adopting Iris. As her mind came back to the present, she noted that Iris was having trouble keeping her eyes open.  
"let's get you to bed Iris.".

"Okay mommy." Iris said sleepily. As Yang, Blake and Weiss watched in confusion Ruby carried the little girl upstairs and disappeared for the next ten minutes.  
"What's going on? Or do I even want to know?" Yang asked.  
"What just happened Yang, is that Ruby is tucking Iris in. You see, Iris lost her biological family a little over two weeks ago. Ruby was able to recue her, and she latched on to her. It used to be Iris would have a panic attack if she was seperated from Ruby. It's not quite so bad now, but she still panics if she's away from any of us." Jaune said.

"And Ruby being called mommy?" Weiss asked.  
"Well... after the rather short-lived and underwhelming battle of haven, the mistralian council was prepared to give Ruby whatever she wanted. Including the kingdom on a silver platter if she had asked. This place was a non-negotiable reward for preventing the fall of Haven. What Ruby personally asked for was legally adopting Iris." Jaune said.  
"Why?" was Blake's question.

"Because during the fight I got hurt and that terrified Iris to the point that she called me mommy for the first time." they heard Ruby's voice floating out of the stairwell.

"Who hurt you and where are they? Tell me so I can go murder them." Yang growled.  
"They were executed for war crimes five days ago. As for my injury, it did no lasting damage though I now have a rather large scar going across my face." with those words Ruby flipped her hood down, revealing a scar that ran diagonally across her face having somehow missed both of her eyes.

"I got this from Lionheart when he tried to ambush us. As far as the attack went, aside from this one injury it was a complete failiure." Ruby said.  
"I don't even want to know about that new gear do I?" Blake said.  
"Actually you should. We have a new set for the three of you as well." Ruby replied.  
"Wait, what? How do you have new gear for the three of us?" Yang asked.


	5. Chapter 5

chapter five explaining

"...And that's pretty much what happened. Ruby rescued Iris not long after, and they've been pretty much inseperable ever since." Jaune had just finshed recounting what had happened ever since Ruby had left patch with them. After a short-lived debate with Qrow, Yang, Blake and Weiss had donned their new combat gear somewhat surprised at the fact it seemed to have been custom made just for them.

"These seem to have been tailor-made specifically for us. Do they have any unusual qualities that we should be aware of?" Weiss asked.  
"They do seem to augment our semblences and aura to the point of absurdity. Yours may enhance your dust based abilities for example." Ren spoke in an even tone, as always.

"That's...amazing. What about Ruby's?" Yang asked.

"Well...her gear seems to be the exception. It does nothing to enhance her abilities. Everything she can do, she can do naturally. Even swordplay. In fact, she's so good at that she's given veteran huntsmen a run for their money." Jaune said. While the rest of her teammates digested this new information, Qrow was busy pondering how the dust Jaune had just made such a massive understatement. Ruby had displayed skills exceeding not just his own, but that of every other huntsmen he knew of. Including his sister. However, she only displayed such skill when Iris was in danger. The only explanation? She genuinely considered herself Iris' mother. Just what we need. Another avenue for Salem to attack. Oh dust! How am I gonna explain this one to Tai? He thought. As he pulled his attention back to the group in front of him, he noted they were discussing how best to travel with Iris. The WBY of team RWBY was attempting to convince both Ruby and Iris it would best if Iris stayed with a family willing to care for her. It did not end well. Both Ruby and Iris countered every argument levelled at them, and systematically dismantled the reasoning behind the argument until everyone else gave up. Afterwards, Iris took a nap snuggled up to Ruby's side. "Okay...You win. Sorry about that." Yang said. They were all looking at Iris with unusual expressions. It took a moment, but Ruby realized that the expression she was seeing was something she herself had been feeling for awhile.

"Hey...Do the three of you mind if Iris calls all of you her aunts?" Ruby asked. They all looked dumbfounded by the question.  
"Uhh...Sure?" Blake said sounding anything but sure.  
"Well Yang, you at least are going to have to put up with it whether you like it or not." Ruby pointed out. While Yang was trying to process this particular statement, Qrow said,

"You better not be slacking off when it comes to training squirt.". The remaining members of team JNPR simply looked at each other, well aware of the fact that becoming Iris' official mother had only increased the hard work she put in daily. It had gotten to the point that someone had to tell Ruby when she needed to take a break.

"Erm... Qrow? She doesn't need to train more. She needs to relax more." Jaune said.  
"All right then. You three! Have you been told what is going on?". Qrow shot at the WBY of team RWBY. The three of them subconsciously straightened at being adressed in such a manner.

"You mean with all the weirdness that seems to have started following Ruby around?" Yang asked. "No. I mean with all the weirdness that resulted in Ruby's travels." Qrow responded.

"Uhhhh...No? Is it really that important?" Yang asked. Qrow facepalmed and said,  
"Yes it is that important. I've been sober for almost a full year because it's that important.". That particular statement seemed to horrify Yang. Uncle Qrow? Sober? How? This makes no sense! Yang thought. Normally, one would not hear Qrow's name and the word sober in the same sentence. Which is why he had the group's full attention as he began to speak.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six resting and questions

"Wait, all of this, even the maidens is true!?" Yang almost screamed.  
"Yes, I already said that kid. Please stop screaming about it because it isn't going to change anytime soon.". As silence fell, the one thing thar could be heard was Iris groaning slightly in her sleep before snuggling a bit more into Ruby's side. One of the few people in the room that didn't have to suppress making a noise or comment at what Iris had just done was Qrow. Mainly due to the fact that while he did find it cute, he was a veteran of the elite huntsmen and had also gotten somewhat used to things like this from his nieces. What surprised him was their teammates reactions. That aside, he knew that it was only a matter of time before, A) Taiyang found out and tried to murder him, or B) Salem found out and attempted to use Iris as a bargaining chip against them. Neither prospect was pretty. Eventually he said,

"How are you going to tell your dad about this Ruby?". Evidently, none of them had planned that far ahead.  
"Hmm... Maybe I'll just wait until I can talk to him in person.". Qrow's response kind of scared Yang. "The longer you wait squirt, the more ballistic his reaction is going to be when he does find out.". Ruby response was brilliant in it's simplicity:

"I already sent a letter about this to him. I said what I said about waiting because I don't think he'll take it seriously. As it stands there is nothing he can legally do about suddenly finding out that he is a grandpa now.". The last part of her response got them all thinking about it, and one by one every teenager in the room fell into fits of somewhat muffled laughter as they imagined the various reactions that Taiyang Xiao Long would have upon this revelation. After the discussion, Qrow informed them that he would be testing what they had learned, and told them to go bed because they would be getting up early. Soon only Ruby, the sleeping Iris and Qrow himself were left.

"Uncle Qrow?" "Yes?" "You know more about this mark than what you're telling us, don't you?".  
"I have some suspicions, but they're just that: suspicions, nothing concrete. Yet."  
"I don't really like the sound of that yet, uncle Qrow."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do something extremely dangerous."  
"That's not what I meant. You sound like you're going to go around beating people who know less than we do up until you get an answer.". That statement gave Qrow pause. True he had been planning on trying to get asnwers out of anyone who might know, but violence was, as always in scenarios like this, a last resort. But if he made Ruby think like that... maybe it was time for a reevaluation of his methods and behavior.  
"All right... I think that the mark in your eye is related to this exalt buisness somehow. But I don't know for sure, and I don't want risk any more injury to any of you."

"Uncle Qrow. We are NOT little kids that you can keep in the dark anymore. What is going on?" Ruby's tone made it clear that until she got an asnwer she was not going to let this rest. Since when does she sound like that? Qrow thought. But she's right. Look at what happened to Beacon. If Ozpin hadn't been obsessed with keeping everything under wraps, we'd have stood a much better chance at stopping that catastrophe.  
"I'll tell all of you tomorrow. Now get some rest, you'll need it.". Seemingly satisfied with that compromise, Ruby settled back into her chair eliciting a soft moan from Iris as the little girl once again snuggled up to her. This time, Qrow cracked a smile at the two youngest members of the family. Unaware of the fact that Ruby had seen it.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven testing the waters

The next morning Qrow unceromoniously dumped everyone except Ruby and Iris out of bed.  
"Tell me, why didn't Ruby get dumped out of the chair she's sleeping in?" Weiss asked as they all looked at the still sleeping duo.  
"You really wanna try waking them up that way? Let those of us with common sense leave the area first." Nora stated. Everyone was looking at her strangely now.  
"What?"

"Nora, you should not be talking about having common sense." Jaune said. She huffed and left the room, dragging Ren with her.  
"About waking her her up, she's right you know." Yang said.  
"Speaking from personal experience are we?" Jaune asked.  
"Yes. I tried to wake her up after she had stayed up too late one night and found myself on the other side of the room. She kicked me in her sleep. I'd really hate to see what she does to the poor sucker that has to wake her up while she's got Iris with her.". After that particular exchange, everyone except Ruby went outside to be tested by Qrow. The tests varied, from ones that taxed the physical abilities of Weiss, to ones that tested Yang's shaky emotional control. The only one not tested was Ruby who had come out in the middle of Weiss's test to watch and give a few pointers here and there to everyone. Finally Qrow said,

"Get out here squirt. It's time to show off your new skills.". Ruby stepped forward looking resigned to what was going to happen. She surprised her old teammates by settling in to a stance they had never seen before. Qrow stepped forward and settled into his own stance. And said,  
"Win this one and I'll help explain Iris to your father." that piqed their interest. Ruby smirked and said,

"You better mean that." Qrow's expression told them all they needed to know: He did genuinely mean it. Ruby then surprised them again by drawing the strange sword she had been carrying ever since they reunited. Qrow drew his own weapon and the sparring match began. What only Qrow knew however, was that he had put a way to convince Taiyang about Iris truly being family on the table to motivate Ruby. And it was working. Not once in the entire match was Qrow able to get the upper hand against his niece. This was beyond anything he'd expected out of her, she was overwhelming him with ancient techniqes that hadn't been seen in so long there was no known way to counter them. She was augmenting her strikes with her semblance, giving them enough power to cleave straight through a goliath. And send her Uncle flying almost two hundred feet backwards.

"I guess I win?" she said uncertainly as Qrow walked back.  
"Yeah. Truth be told I was planning on helping you with that anyway. I just put that on the table here to motivate to fight harder than you normally would have." that explanation had everyone shocked. the one thought on the spectators minds was She didn't go all out!?. Ruby responded,  
"And you call me childish. You could have just asked me to go kill grimm."  
"That wouldn't have drawn out the response I needed from you. That and if there were spies watching, they are almost certainly terrified of you now.". Ruby had to concede the second point but the first...

"What response were trying to get?"  
"I was trying to get you to fight at even a fraction of the true potential you have. Potential you only display when Iris is threatened by something. I want to know why? Why do hold back on everything else?"  
"Not here. I'll show outside the city.". So they found themselves outside the city next to a fair sized hill later that day. What they saw there explained almost everything. Ruby somehow cut block of stone the size of a bullhead in two.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight fears and dreams

"That was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen...Well actually the second most terrifying thing." Blake said. No-one asked what the most frightening thing she had seen was. They were still trying to come to terms with the fact that Ruby could alter the landscape with the most basic of sword techniqes. What was even scarier to them was the fact that she wasn't even winded afterwards. They now knew she was actually afraid of her own power, especially since unlike them her new gear did nothing to augment it, which meant she'd had that potential all along. But again, it was something that she only used when Iris was in danger. But no-one, not even Ruby could explain how she had obtained such devastating power.

"The only thing I can think of is that there's more to our family than I thought. More than just your silver eyes has to be at work here Ruby." Qrow said. That was the only thing they all agreed on. Meanwhile, Ruby was beginning to see her swords history through her dreams. Some could only qualify as nightmares, while the majority of them inspired her to push herself even harder than before. But this was different; she was interacting with her dream world now. And it frightened her. "Don't be frightened. We're here to help you learn about your power." a voice she had never heard before but sounded familiar said.  
"W-who are you?" she stuttered out.

"I am Chrom, one of your ancestors who wielded the exalted falchion before you." the blue haired man said.  
"And I am Lucina, his daughter who also wielded falchion. We are the exalt bloodline, and you are the last of us." a blue haired woman who did look alot like the man who spoke before said. "Falchion?" Ruby asked.

"The name of our sword. It's time for us to tell you about our bloodline. It began with the hero-king Marth, who was a swordsman of the highest caliber. He was the first to wield falchion against the fell dragon Grima. With it he struck down the beast and a thousand years of relative peace followed. Until he began to awaken in our time. At first it was all we could do just to foil his plans. It wasn't until Lucina travelled back through time that the tables turned and we began to make headway. Don't let it get that far in your time, Exalt Ruby." Chrom said.

"There's that word "Exalt" again. What does it actually mean?" she asked.

"I suppose you could equate it to being a king or queen. But it also means that you have a duty to your people to uphold. You are already doing everything in your power to stop the chaos from spreading. But you must go beyond what even our blood grants you to win this war. Take this." Ruby suddenly staggered as the skill and power of two legendary sword-users was added to her own. But with it came knowledge. Knowledge that she hoped she would never have to use. It was the knowledge of how to travel to the past as a means to alter the future.

"Why me? I'm nothing special, I didn't earn this, I don't even know what I'm doing now!" Ruby exclaimed. "You're wrong on all but the last one, child of fate. You were special the moment you were born, and you have earned more from us than just a sword and a shattered world. You will be a beacon of hope and light in a darkening world. You are far stronger than we could even hope to be. It's time that you show the world why roses have thorns. As for what you're doing right now? Do you think that we had any idea what we were doing when we started? It will come to you in time." Chrom said. Then Lucina added,  
"Leading comes naturally to you. Do not doubt yourself so much.". As Ruby sat listenening to the history of her family, she realized something: there was no mention of the Rose family in the lineage she was listening to.

"Why is the Rose family name not mentioned?" she asked.

"Because our blood comes from your father. Your mother gave you what is known as fateful blood. Once fully awakened, you will be able to assume the form of the dawn dragon. This power is now symbolized by being born with silver eyes. It is why the creatures of grimm fear you. They were spawned by a surviving fragment of Grima's dark power, and you, being born with light in your heart and soul, can erase them with but a glance. Our time here is over, but I hope we helped you in your quest to restore the lost light." Lucina said. Ruby woke up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She remembered her dream, and decided that once Iris woke up as well she was going to ask her uncle about this "Fateful blood" that Lucina had mentioned.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine plans

"Uncle Qrow? Do you know what exactly having fateful blood means?" Ruby aked.  
"No, squirt I do not. Where did you even hear that?" was the response.

"I just had a really weird dream last night, and it seemed to be connected to everything else happening to me." she replied. "I also found out a bit more about my sword. That is if my dream can be trusted as a source of information.".

"Well, so far the strange happenings around you have saved Iris, prevented the fall of Haven, discovered a previously unknown ruin, found an ancient sword that seems to be able to cut through almost anything in said ruin, and are naturally skilled with that sword. So, I'm willing to go on a little faith here. The question is: Are you?" Qrow said.

"The reason I'm not sure about this, is because I also got some knowledge that should not exist: If things get really bad, that dream showed me a way to travel backwards through time. And really, the fact that I can do this kind of stuff frightens me." she said.

"You're afraid of your own power. I actually understand that one kid. Give it some time and eventually you will come to grips with it, and find a way to utilize it the way you want to." Qrow said. "I'm just hoping that it doesn't get bad enough for this time travel thingy to be necessary." Ruby replied. After that exchange, the rest of the group started filtering in to the room and getting their breakfasts. When they were done, Ruby told them about the dream she had had including the time travel bit. They then began discussing the possibilities that this ability now gave them, including preventing the fall of beacon.  
"But we don't want to ruin everyone's lives if we mess up." Ruby pointed out. As she said this, Iris sleepily snuggled into her side. Once more eliciting barely suppressed sqeals at her cuteness. They continued the discussion in softer voices, and eventually agreed that time travel was a last resort.  
"But how will we know when to use it?" Yang asked.

"If everything goes downhill the way Oz was thinking it will you'll know." was Qrow's response. An uncomfortable silence fell as everyone digested yet another shocking piece of information. Finally Jaune spoke up saying,

"It would be for the best to try to stop from going that far. And to do that, we only have a handful of options. Ruby, I really don't want to say this, but your time travel thing may be our only chance to keep all this from happening." they all could tell he meant it when he said that he didn't want to say that. They all looked at Ruby whose eyes were currently closed.

"We can only time travel from a specific location. A mountain that fortunately is nearby. But there's no way to know when or where in the past we will end up. So it's still very dangerous." she said. "But before we do that there's still work to do here.". Yang asked,

"Work like what?". The response was,

"To restore falchion to it's full power. To do that, we need to find five different gems as well as a shield-like object that has the settings for them.".  
"These 'gems', did you see them in your dream Ruby?" Qrow asked.

"Yeah! One of them was green and is still in the shield, the other four are white, red, blue and purple. They're also all about this big." she held up her thumb and forefinger in a rough circle shape. Qrow stared. "Uncle Qrow? Why are you staring?" Ruby asked as the silence grew uncomfortable. "You just described the relics hidden in each academy to a tee without ever actually seeing the real thing. It just so happens that I have the white one with me." he then produced Ozpin's cane, which was topped by a peculiar white gemstone.  
"That's it!" Ruby cried. "Back to the ruins!".


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten the new emblem

Ruby had explained to everyone that the shield was somewhere in the ruins that they had cleared out previously. Which was how they found themselves field testing their new equipment against the risen.

"So, these things are those creatures you were talking about?" Yang asked.

"Yep. They are a whole lot scarier than the grimm aren't they?" Ruby responded popping the "p" in yep.

"Yes, but that's because the grimm don't know how to use weapons. And the noises they make don't help anything." Yang said. They were back at the ruin to search for clues on the whereabouts of the second temple.

"Wait, I just found something really strange." Weiss said.  
"Really? What is it? Ruby asked. "A book of some sort. I can't read it, but it seems to be reacting to my aura.".  
"Well let's take it with us and figure it out later.". As they were moving on, Ren said,

"So what do we do when we have everything we need?".  
"We don't tell ANYONE at Haven where we're going. We don't know who else Salem has in her pocket." Qrow said. After that there was a brief moment of silence until Iris piped up asking innocently,

"Mommy? How do people fit in pockets?". There was a moment of silence... Then everyone burst out laughing. Iris looked about in confusion and asked,  
"What's so funny?" Ruby responded by saying,

"It's an expression Iris. People don't actually fit in pockets.". After that brief moment of levity they resumed their exploration of the temple.  
"What is this?" Qrow asked. They had just entered a large seemingly empty room. There was only one door at the far end, and there didn't seem to be any obstacles in their way. Which is why it was a surprise when everyone except Ruby and Iris walked into a invisible wall.  
"What is this!?" Weiss shrieked.

"I don't know." came from Qrow who was currently rubbing his nose.  
"It's a barrier of some sort, so how come Ruby and Iris got through?" Ren asked.  
"Maybe it has to do with her sword?" Weiss asked.  
"It probably has more to do with who she is than her new sword." Qrow said.  
"Really? Than how come I can't get through?" Yang asked.  
"Most likely because you are half sisters instead of full blooded sisters." Ren said.

"That could be it, since the strangest things seem to be coming from her mother's side of the family." Qrow stated. This resulted in a slight pout from Ruby who asked  
"Are you saying I'm weird?".

"Maybe." Qrow said. "Anyway what are you gonna do on the other side there?".  
"Explore a little bit I think." came the response.  
"Be careful lil' sis." Yang called after her as she walked through a door at the end of the room. On the other side it was quite bare. there wasn't any furniture to be seen. However, they began to hear a unfortunately familiar growling sound. 'Grimm!' Ruby thought. It happened to be two beowolves. Easy enough, even with having to protect Iris. A few moments later, there were two dissolving beowolf corpses, and Ruby was leaving the room. This pattern continued for three more rooms before the most recent passageway opened up into a large hall that had another pedestal in it. On this pedestal was the object of her search.  
"The fire emblem." She breathed. She approached the pedestal carefully wary of any sort of trap especially because she Iris with her and no back-up from her allies.

A/N first story guys. Don't know how well I did, so bear with me please.


	11. Chapter 11

chapter eleven rest and confusion

Her caution paid off as almost as soon as she had grabbed the emblem, a number of risen appeared. However, there is a reason nothing in its right mind will attack a mother anything. It did not take long for Ruby to dispatch the first or second waves of risen. The third was grimm which was old hand for her. The fourth and final wave, was different, as there were strange masked things among the grimm and risen. These unknowns, were somewhat tougher than than their current comrades but still failed miserably at stopping Ruby from leaving the room.

The two of them were attacked fairly regularly on the way back but it didn't do much to slow them down. Ruby was slightly confused. Grimm that she used to have trouble with were little more than minor annoyances at this point and she didn't know why. Upon returning to the first room she and Iris had gone into, she resolved to ask everyone else about this strange occurence, and see if they had experienced something similar.

When she exited the room, she stopped and stared. The rest of the group was now sleeping and even had a fire going. Only Qrow was still awake, and he hadn't noticed her return yet. Not until she said, "Uncle Qrow? how long was I in there?" he nearly jumped out of his skin before turning to look at her, and then he paused before saying "A while. Now was that blue in your hair there before and I'm just now noticing it or is that new?".

Ruby blinked then moved her hair a little bit to look at it, and noticed that there was a definite blue tint in it now to go with the red. "I'm gonna stick out even more wherever we go now." the now tricolored haired girl said flatly. "You don't seem too surprised." Qrow commented. "With all the ludicrous things that keep happening to me? It's going to be difficult to surprise me now." She retorted.

"Alright then. There's some food leftover from dinner over there by the fire." Was Qrow's response. "Thanks. I didn't realize how long we were in there. Are you hungry Iris?" The last part was directed to her pseudo-daughter who responded in the affirmative. While they were eating Qrow was trying to work out was different about his younger niece aside from the new color in her hair.

Finally she broke the silence, (and coincidentally Qrow's train of thought) with a question. "Uncle Qrow, do you know why all my fights seem to be getting easier?" This question threw him for loop for a moment, before he responded by asking "What do mean?". Her response was "The grimm that used to give me trouble, like ursa majors aren't a problem to me any more and I don't understand why.". "The only reason that could really explain that is the fact that your strength is growing by leaps and bounds. I give it maybe a few months before you could beat me in an all out fight." Was Qrow's statement. "That does not answer my question at all uncle Qrow." Ruby deadpanned at him.

"That's probably the closest you're gonna get to an answer for that one. Now it's late and you probably need to sleep.", as if to punctuate the last part of his sentence, Iris yawned and snuggled sleepily into Ruby's side. "Alright then, but I'm asking everyone else the same question in the morning." She responded. The only response she got to this a an affirmative grunt.


	12. Chapter 12

chapter 12 interlude

After the revelation that things were becoming easier than they should be, the group began to look through what few archeological reports they could find in order to locate the other temples, and/or relics.  
"Hey what about here?" Came Yangs voice from one the corners of the room they had comandeered.

"Let's take a look." Jaune stated. The dynamic of leadership was Ruby being the battlefield commander while Jaune handled the more logistical side of things, so he would be the most likely to figure out if it was a lead to follow up on based on the few clues they currently had.  
"Well, this one's more far more likely than all the other ones we've looked at so far, but the problem is that we need a way to get there." Jaune stated looking at the sparse information available on the ruins Yang had been looking at.

"Leave that one to me." Qrow started. "In the meantime you should gather what supplies we'll need, and get as much rest as possible.".  
Taking his advice most of the group split up, but there was never less than two per group. They were understandably paranoid after the double cross Lionheart pulled. Yang wandered off dragging Nora along with her to an arcade, Jaune took off to aqcuire the necessary supplies followed by Ren, Weiss went with Blake to give her a 'talking to for running off' as she put it, which left Ruby to go back to their current base with Iris and Qrow.

The first thing Ruby did was start writing a letter to go back to patch, with Iris adding little bits here and there. "Well, you're up uncle Qrow." was heard shortly after she and Iris were finished writing. "I did say I was going to help didn't I?" he grumbled. After his contribution to the letter, they sent it off to hopefully get to patch. Finished with that, Ruby decided to take a nap, Iris doing the same. A few hours later, Yang and Nora returned with a number of small things they had won, followed by Weiss and a quieter than usual Blake. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jaune and Ren were the last to return with the news that they had enough supplies to make it to their next target and back. Now they were only waiting on the transport Qrow had said that he would aquire for them. Soon everyone had settled down somewhat and started talking about mostly inconsequential things, such as what everyone had been up to before returning.

Eventually most of them started feeling sleepy and thus went to bed hoping for a brighter future. Unknown to them at that point was the fact that it was already being rewritten because Salem did not know about their new plan. As such she was continuing with as before happily unaware that she was going to lose and lose badly.

A/N I forgot to say if anyone wants to use the ideas here as a base go ahead. And while I would like to thank Nightmareknight1 for pointing out the fact that my writing did indeed look sloppy, I do not appreciate foul language. Constructive criticism is accepted.


	13. Chapter 13

To answer your question Firewyrm2, no Grima will not appear, the grimm and Salem are whats left of it's corruptive influence. Also since I never really put any descriptions of Ruby's new combat gear, it's a combination of her old style and Lucina's style. There is also a poll on my profile page for the time travel arc that is going to happen after the relic hunt, please vote. Also discaimer since I just realized I have not put one in this story so, I don't own anything.

chapter 13 Magic and the next relic

As they rode in the bullhead Qrow had aquired (while refraining from asking where he got it) Weiss was once again trying to figure out the book she had found in the previous temple. She was clearly getting frustrated, and eventually simply shunted a fair bit of her aura into it. The result was startling to everyone as it had launched a bolt of lightning out of the tome and scorched a small section of the wall.

"Well... that happened." Yang said as everyone save Qrow (who was currently piloting the bullhead) stared wide eyed at the scorch mark.

"I think that was a type of magic." Ruby said slowly. "So... magic is a thing from the past even if you're not a maiden?" Yang asked.

"Yes, but I don't know how you would go about learning it." Ruby replied.

"I thought you were the expert on this kind of thing?" Jaune asked confusion apparent on his features.

"Magic is something that I don't think any of my ancestors used, so I can't tell you much about it other than the fact that it is divided into four types." Ruby replied while moving a napping Iris into a more comfortable position in her lap.

"So what are these four types then?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There's wind, fire, thunder and dark. Guessing you found a thunder book based on the fact you threw a lightning bolt without dust." Ruby answered.

"That makes sense, but there must be other books like this somewhere." Weiss reponded holding up her new weapon.

"I guess we'll be looking for more of these books inthe next ruin. Anything like that'll be a major advantage." Qrow remarked from the pilots compartment.

"Well that's two things we're doing then. Especially if we get seperated like last time." Ruby mumbled. That was something no-one wanted to happen again, but they also understood that there was always a possibility of it happening. The group fell into a comfortable silence each with their own thoughts.

"We're putting down here." Qrow announced a few minutes later.

"So... where's the entrance to these ruins we need to get to?" Yang questioned. "I think it's over here." Ruby called. The rest of the group went over to help her look for the well hidden entrance. Almost half of an hour later it was found by Nora of all people. She had decided to try to tap red leaved tree thinking it was the same variety as the trees in Foreverfall forest, unaware of the fact it actually autumn at their present location. She'd accidently hit a small runic mark that, on closer inspection seemed to hover slightly off the bark of the tree. This triggered a doorway that had been hidden from view by a combination of small boulders and the occasional old tree stump.

"I found it!" She screamed at the rest of the group.

"We noticed." everyone else deadpanned at the same time. This resulted in slight pout, but everyone except Ren ignored this more focused on making sure there wouldn't be any lethal traps immediately inside the entrance. Upon confirming that, for the moment at least, the entrance was safe they started moving trough it.

"All right, flashlights." Jaune called out. With the path now being illuminated, they could proceed more confidently. This did not, however mean that they weren't wary of traps that were magical in nature. Fortunately they did not run into another invisible wall.

"Well, no new surprises so far. I'd say that's a good thing." Yang said.

"You just jinxed it Yang." Ruby groaned at her. True to Ruby's prediction, they found themselves almost immediately fighting a small horde of risen.

"I normally wouldn't ascribe to jinxing things, but I think I'll make an exception this time!" Weiss shouted irritably.

"I didn't think this would happen!" Came the sheepish response.

"Less talking more fighting!" A rather angry Ruby shouted as she shot by, still carrying Iris in one arm. There was a brief lull while the rest of the hunters present looked at each other then at the carnage Ruby was currently unleashing on the risen and silently decided to never make her angry for any reason ever. Then collectively blinked as a strange light seemed to wreath her sword for two strikes. With a cry of "Aether!" Ruby cleaved what appeared to be the risen commander in two.

"Anyone else want to try to jinx us?!" She almost yelled. Everyone else simply shook their heads almost afraid to speak. A quick inspection revealed why Ruby was angry. Iris had nearly gotten hit by one of the risen. It was much quieter after that, and they started moving slowly down the passageway that was at the end of the room that had served as their battlefield.

"You can be downright terrifying when you want to be little sis." Yang finally said after a few minutes of silence.

"Your one to talk." Ruby shot back.  
Yang noticed everyone was now giving her an absolutely deadpan look.  
"What?" she asked rather cluelessly.

"Says the girl whose semblance is both a glorified temper tantrum and the unanimously voted most terrifying thing in beacon academy." Qrow stated flatly eliciting a dirty look from his older niece. Fortunately it appeared that the first battle was also the last one. And this time there was no invisible barrier to keep everyone but Ruby and Iris out.

"So... where's the next relic?" Weiss asked no-one in particular.

"Is this pretty rock what you're looking for mommy?" Iris asked holding up a deep red stone with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Yes Iris it is!" Ruby said happily.

"Now what do we do?" Blake asked Ruby.

"Well we have three of the five relics, and a general idea of where the last two are. The problem is that they're both in either extremely dangerous territory, or far enough away that it will take about a week straight in the bullhead. Also Jaune is supposed to handle the questions like this." Ruby replied. Everyone looked openly horrified at having to spend so much time in the bullhead and elected to go after the closer but more dangerous one.


	14. Chapter 14

Need some help with skills for team JNPR and Qrow. The others already have two skills each. I'll put them at the end of the chapter if you haven't already figured who has what skills. If you don't like them and think you have a better idea give some good reasons and I will either change or add them at a later date. Also this will eventually be main characters steamrolling their enemies without much trouble. Please use reviews for skill ideas.

chapter 14 more magic

It was strange. Almost every battle was progressively getting easier. They were also noticing abilities that had effects that would normally be tied to a semblance. Or, occasionally amplifying the semblance in question such as in Yang's case. In the case of Blake, her new abilities seemed to make her foes far clumsier within a certain radius while Weiss who had taken it upon herself to become their resident magic expert, had an ability that greatly increased the force of her magic attacks.

This time they were heading to their destination on foot, because there was always a chance of someone trying to shoot their bullhead down. Jaune had decided that it would be a good use of time to train in the new abilities the possessed even though no-one in his team had displayed them as of yet. Ruby had stated that there was one in particular she needed a very specific item to use and therefor could not train in yet. There was also the fact the entire group knew that she was still somewhat afraid of her own power though no-one commented on it. Not after Qrow took them aside and told them about his semblance that only Ruby's curious new powers kept in check.

After hearing his reason for being drunk off his rocker 97% of the time they had accepted it, even they weren't completely happy with it. There was also the fact that all of them had subtle changes in their semblances, and were concerned about this fact. Until Qrow had enough of their angsting over it and said quite flatly, "You're still young enough for your semblances whatever they to evolve into something greater than what they are now. Focus on where you want them to take you in the future instead of angsting over it and driving me up the wall." after that there was an awkward silence until they set up camp for the night.

Ruby had decided to take first watch for the night and brush up on her sniping skills with Crescent Rose in the process. While maintaining afore mentioned weapon, she spotted something she recognized from her dreams. A smallish round stone that seemed to glow slightly in the dim light.  
Her irritated groan got the attention of everyone still awake who watched with confusion as she picked the object up.  
"What is it sis?" Yang asked quietly (they had unanimously decided waking Iris up when Ruby had yet to go to sleep was a terrible idea) as she tried to figure out what annoyed her sister.  
"It's a flipping dragonstone. You know the item i needed to practice my other skillset with?" Ruby said somehow managing to speak flatly and convey extreme annoyance at the same time. Everyone else looked at each-other before Weiss realized something.  
"You never told Iris you could turn into a dragon did you?" Ruby froze for a moment before saying slowly,  
"No I did not. I'll have to do that tomorrow morning.". In the meantime she fashioned a sort of necklace out of the seemingly innocous stone. She then returned to her watch and occasional sniping of the grimm that were stupid enough to wander to close to their camp. Other than that her shift passed quietly. When she traded spots with Weiss, the ex-heiress decided to say something to her partner, and best friend.  
"You don't have to do anything by yourself Ruby. We're all here for you, even when thing are tough the same way you've been there for us and kept us from falling apart. Please don't try to shoulder everything alone."  
Ruby stopped and thought for before replying,  
"There are somethings only I can do, but I'd almost forgotten that I'm not alone in this. I needed the reminder and I'm glad it came from you Weiss. So thank you." She slept better that night than she had ever since leaving Patch.

The next morning was rather quiet with everyone wondering how Ruby was going to tell Iris about her ability to turn into a dragon. Her reaction wasn't what anyone was expecting. She had asked,  
"Couldn't you always do that mommy?" with an adorably confused expression on her face. After about thirty seconds Ruby had asked her daughter to explain how she knew, and was surprised to discover she and Yang smelled quite strongly of dragons. Which meant there was a high possibility of Yang being capable of using a dragonstone as well. Which she considered awesome. Ruby had decided that she needed to get used to transforming as soon as possible and thus rest of the group agreed to temporarily halt their quest for the next relic. But after the short talk she had had with Weiss the night before, she agreed to have everyone present for her first transformation. Just in case.

She nervously grasped the stone currently hanging around her neck and began to channel her energy into it. There was silence as she morphed from her normal human form into her draconic form. Her clothing changed along with her, morphing into scales as her cloak became wings. When the shift ended there was a mid-sized red-black dragon that had a type of nobility about it. Iris simply walked up to the transformed Ruby and hugged her leg. The currently draconic young woman (no-one dared to call her a little girl anymore) simply cooed softly at her adopted daughter before shifting back and returning the hug. Qrow had said that it was most likely a bad idea for Yang to try to transform with her anger issues not dealt with properly yet. She had, surprisingly agreed with him on that point. After a few more transformations, Ruby felt comfortable enough with her draconic side to begin traveling again.

It was strange how different Ruby seemed to be after her use of the dragonstone. She seemed more comfortable in her own skin, and no longer feared her own power. In fact she had begun actively training to her full potential. Soon she had learned that while not as muscular or solid as Yang was, she was just as strong physically. And to add to that, she had mastered channeling her semblance through single limb effectively allowing her to hit with enough force to potentially crack diamond. Because she now did this as naturally as breathing, she could no longer use Crescent Rose in melee combat or it would shatter from the force she put into her blows.

The danger of the journey didn't rear it's head until the discovered where the next relic was. It was within an obsidian temple in the middle of an active volcano's caldera. Only Yang and Ruby had the necessary heat tolerance to enter it.  
"Iris Ineed you stay with your aunt Weiss while I go into the temple, okay?" Ruby gently told her little girl. Over time Iris had brcome familiar enough with whole group that she wouldn't panic with them around her. So she nodded gave Ruby a hug and then went over to Weiss and held her hand. With that the dragon sisters as Qrow had jokingly called them crossed the remarkably solid stone bridge into the temple.

The temperature if anything, increased once they were inside. "Eesh, this place is like an oven." Yang complained. She was too hot to even make puns.  
"Well it could be worse Yang. And don't contradict me or it actually will get worse." Ruby said pointedly. That particular reminder had the blonde looking extremely sheepish.  
"I didn't know that would happen sis."  
"You really need to study murphy's law.". With that exchange they fell into a comfortable silence as the began to search for the next relic, which according to Ruby should be black.

"This is taking longer than I thought it would." Yang eventually said to no-one in particular as they searched one of the rooms they had come across. It wasn't a complete waste of time though, since thet had found a small number of books similar to to Weiss' new weapon and collected them.  
"So, you think anyone other than Weiss could use these?" Yang asked.  
"No idea. Like I said, this is something I don't know much about." was the reply.

Fortunately there weren't many risen in this particular temple and what was there could be dealt with by the sisters. It wasn't until they reached what they thought was most likely the center of the temple that they had any luck in locating the second to last relic. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by a moat of lava without a bridge.  
"Any ideas?" Yang asked.  
"Why do you always ask me these questions?" Ruby replied exasperatedly.  
"Because you're the tactical genius of the group sis." Yang deadpanned. Ruby groaned internally at that. Everyone in their group of friends had been calling her that ever since her crazy plan to kill the nevermore in initiation. And it drove her nuts, especially since according to her uncle and father, she could not take a compliment at all. Still, she had always been more of a problem solver than her sister so she began to look around for anything that might help with this issue. Which was she spotted a large but well hidden hinge in the wall leading her to think it was something like a drawbridge. They just needed to figure out how to activate it. This was more easily said than done, since no matter where or how hard she looked there did not appear to be a switch of any sort. Then, she began looking between the apparent hinge and the gap keeping them from the black gemstone. Upon closer inspection, the 'hinge' was revealed to be more of a lock bar.  
"Hey, Yang? Think you can break this thing?" Ruby asked motioning to the disguised lock bar.  
"Won't know until I try right?" Was the response. After a few minutes of slugging the bar as hard as she could all Yang had managed to do was crack it. "Maybe you should use your dragon form on it?" Yang offered after a few more swings. Ruby felt like face-palming. She had almost completely forgotten about her dragon form! Said form finished what Yang started, breaking the lock bar keeping a well hidden section of stone that looked like a wall up. It fell seemingly in slow motion, and landed with a rumbling thud creating a bridge for the two sisters to cross.

Thankfully the trip out was just as quiet as the trip in, and soon they were reunited with the rest of their group. The first thing Ruby did was pick up Iris. The second thing was to hand Weiss all the books that they had found inside.  
"One more relic, then we'll be going back in time. Is everyone ready for that?" Ruby asked the group at large.

Yang: Vengeance, Defender, Weiss: Ignis, Healtouch, Ruby: Aether, Charm, Blake:Hex, Vantage


	15. Chapter 15

chapter 15 the final relic

As they walked back to the bullhead, the group discussed how exactly they were going to pull off spending so much time in it. The decision that tey came to would extend the length of the trip by close to two more weeks, but would mean more freedom and less being crammed like sardines in the bullhead. They would spend a maximum of six hours in the bullhead at a time unless they were over open water. It would still be an annoyance, but it was better than the alternative. In Ruby's opinion, it may actually be a good thing to cram some of the group into close proximity to each other. I hope Yang and Blake will start getting along the way they used to after this. she thought. Her team had been back together for a while, but they were all trying to deal with what had happened since the fall of beacon and they just hadn't gotten back into the spirit of being a team yet. She was certainly hoping they could be a team again.

"So which mountain do we need to get to once we have the last relic?" Jaune asked pulling out the most complete map of Remnant that could purchased. Ruby pulled out a rough map made from what she had seen in the dream that her ancestors had spoken to her through, and pointed out one of the few landmarks that still remained from that era and said, "Here." pointing to a mountain on the dark continent. "That'll be our last stop before time jumping then." Jaune said stating the obvious. Then he said something that caught team RWBY off guard. "We should probably stay behind just in case. And before you say anything, we've already talked about this between ourselves." Even Qrow was speechless for a moment.

"Are you sure about this?" Ruby asked once everyone had gotten over their shock. "Yes. Even if we went back, we wouldn't get our Pyrrha back. It would hurt seeing someone we know that doesn't know us. We're going to help you get the relics and stand guard during the whatever it is that you have to do to tiem jump but we can't go back with you." Jaune explained. "I can't make the jump either squirt. For mostly similar reasons." Qrow stated. His real reason was trying to limit the influence of his semblance since it seemed that only Ruby could nullify it to any degree, and having two of him running around with it was just asking for trouble.

With the time travel group decided, they then began the journey to get the final relic. The first leg of their journey took them past atlas. They stopped on a mountain peak roughly five or so miles from the city itself. Since Qrow had the most experience with infiltration, he was the one who went to replenish their supplies. While everyone else was either stretching or training in the area around the bullhead. Although it was mostly team RWBY in the second group, because of course they were going to be the time travelers that would hopefully change history for the better. Athough the butterfly effect being what it is, the moment they went back change was guaranteed. And they were well aware of this fact and counting on it to throw all of Salem's plans out of order.

Meanwhile, Qrow was happily making a large number of the Atlesian elites miserable with his 'aquisition' of supplies and his semblance. He was intentionally walking more closely to the elites than anyone else for the sole purpose of triggering his misfortune semblance on them. They would drop things, trip over thin air, walk into other people and just humiliate themselves in general. So he was in a very good mood by the time he returned to the campsite. When asked why he was in such a good mood, he would reply, "I made life harder for a lot of people. And it was hilarious." there really wasn't anything that anyone could say to that so the subject was dropped.

A few hours later they were back in the bullhead on the to their next stop. It was a relatively small island with a number of defensible postions, but none of them were large enough to justify living there. It was enough for them to spend the night, after training for a while. Even with his issues and semblance Qrow was a good teacher.

During the first watch while Ruby and Iris were asleep, the rest had been talking and decided that before the time jump but after getting the last relic, they make a short stop at patch, for the purpose of introducing Iris to her grandfather, and letting Ruby visit Summer's memorial.

The next day, they were traveling over open water and after listening to Blake about what happened last time she was on open water everyone was on their guard. Which was a good thing, since almost all of them had ranged options in combat. Fortunately there weren't many grimm that attacked. And the ones that did were handled quickly and efficiently. After a full day over the water, they found a small island (emphasis on small) to land on for the night.

This pattern continued for nearly a week before they were over the mainland. After that it only took a few days to reach the final relics location. Strangely, it seemed to have almost no hazards around it. Everyone was understandably paranoid about things like that by this point, so they were extremely careful in their approach. It was not quite as necessary as they thought it was, as the only attack was from a small pack of beowolves. All things considered, The fight if it could even be called that, only took about a minute and a half. Instead of immediately grabbing the yellow stone, they searched around to make sure that there weren't any traps. The group was still very much on guard even after confirming there weren't any traps, but it was apparently unnecessary. Nothing happened when Ruby grabbed it using her semblance to get in and out of the area.

"Now we head to patch for a bit to finish getting ready for the time jump." Qrow said. "Um... When exactly was this decided?" Ruby asked. "Last week while you and Iris were asleep, since it's rather obvious that you're uncomfortable introducing Iris to her grandpa." Qrow replied with a flat tone of voice. They had discovered early on in their trip that the letter they'd sent had not made it to patch meaning a very awkward meeting with Ruby and Yang's father.

It only took three days to reach patch's small docks. And Ruby was nervous the whole way. Which drove almost everyone else up the wall. "So this is where you and Yang grew up Ruby?" Weiss asked once they had reached the Xiao-long residence. "Yeah..." Ruby replied trailing off nervously. It was no secret why. Her and Yang's shared father was extremely overprotective of both his daughters, and likely wouldn't hear a word about the fact Iris was adopted unless he was informed of that before anything else. The one thing they weren't going to tell him was about the time jump they were going to make soon.

The first thing that happened when Taiyang came out was Ruby blurting something about adoption to fast for him to comprehend. "Could someone please translate that for me?" He asked since it was faster than he was used to. "She said she adopted a kid Tai." was Qrow's reply. He had a camera ready for when that sank in. It took a few seconds and then he said perfectly flat, "Adopted?". At that particular prompt, Ruby responded in the affirmative and then said, "Iris meet your grandpa.". Before Iris got to say anything, Taiyang finally realized that no this wasn't a prank and yes Ruby had somehow adopted a little girl, and fainted.

He woke up a few hours later on the couch in the living room. The first words out of his mouth were, "Please tell the last thing I heard was a dream of some sort." the response did not inspire confidence. "Depends. What's the last thing you remember hearing?" This came from Qrow. "That Ruby somehow adopted a little girl.". "Hate to burst your bubble Tai, but she did and it's legal on top of that." Taiyang seemed to slump somewhat. "I really did not want to be right. How did that happen?" Qrow gave him the abridged version of events, including the fact that Ruby could now knock him around in sparring matches and ignore his semblance entirely.

After the explanation from Qrow, he and Taiyang found everyone else in the kitchen apparently waiting for them. "So... this is my first granddaughter?" Taiyang asked looking at Iris, who waved and chirped out "Hi grandpa!" much to the amusement of everyone present. "How long are you lot going to be staying?" Taiyang asked sometime later after Iris decided to take a nap. "A week or so give or take a few days. We have something that really needs to be done, and we're the only ones who can do it." Jaune replied. "Okay... What is it you're not telling me?" Taiyang asked suspiciously. They all looked at eachother then Qrow silently telling him he was explaining this one. "You are much happier not knowing. This is something absolutely needs to happen and if you knew what it was you'd do everything in your power to stop it.". That completely stumped Taiyang, aside from the fact that it was clearly going to be extremely dangerous.

The week passed relatively quickly with Taiyang trying constantly to find out what it was they were planning. It wasn't until the final day of their stay that he found out via eavesdropping on them as they packed. His thoughts on the fact that they apparently could time travel were currently incomprehensible gibberish. He spent working out the why but wouldn't even try on the how. This also explained them trying to keep him out of the loop. Instead of demanding answers or trying to guilt trip them into staying, he decided to keep his silence and follow from a distance when they left. That plan was derailed when they left in the middle of the night.

AN:Okay, I really would appreciate some feedback, and I've pretty much stalled out without any votes in the poll on my profile page. Also, if someone wants to take this and run with it, go right ahead. That does not mean I'll be stopping this, but it does mean anyone can take it and go, with one condition: Iris stays. There is probably going to be a lot of outrage at removing the future version of team JNPR from the time jump, but I can't keep up with writing all the characters. So, only team RWBY and Iris will be making the leap to the past.


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